Cutting board



Oct.8, 1963 Filed Oct. 3. 1961 J. V. BRADY CUTTING BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

United States Pat ent 3,106,236 CUTTING BOARD James V. Brady, 2020 Phillips Ave., Butte, Mont.

Filed Oct. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 142,681

3 Claims. (Cl. 146-215) This invention relates to culinary equipment, and in particular to a combined breadboard and broiler matrix, which utilizes sheet foil to form a disposable broiler pan.

It is a principal object of the invention to avoid the need for cleaning broiler pans, and in particular to accomplish this object through a method which is simple and reliable in execution,- and a means which is simple of structure, yet durable, low in cost and easy to manufacture, and which preserves all the essential features necessary for proper broiling.

These and other objects, which will be readily apparent, are attained by the present invention, which may be briefly characterized as comprising a combination of a breadboard with a plane face for cutting, and an opposite corrugated face, and an open-work tray or basket of striate or grill form, with spaced, parallel wires or rods adapted to seat in the troughs of the corrugations, and hence, to press-form a sheet of metal foil into a general semblance of the corrugated face of the board, the basket serving as a skeleton reinforcement for the sheet during broiling.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the following specification, as illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the breadboard, set in the wire basket, with plane face uppermost, and showing, in broken lines, a food-slicing operation,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the assembly shown in FIGURE 2, as seen along the line 33 of FIG- URE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 5 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but with the breadboard turned over, a layer of foil superposed on the upper, corrugated face, and the basket, with opening uppermost, and its parallel, bottom wires pressing the foi into the troughs of the corrugations,

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 5, but with the basket turned over,

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 6,

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7, showing the ends of the foil folded back over the long sides of the basket,

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 6, showing the foil folded back over the short ends of the basket, and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view, reduced in scale, of the assembled basket and foil.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown a cutting board or block 10, of generally rectangular profile and substantial thickness, with opposite pairs of parallel, plane sides 12, 14 and 16, 18. In its main expanse, the board has two, opposite, working faces, of which a plane face 20 is for cutting operations, and the opposite, corrugated face, with parallel crests 22, and intermediate troughs 24 is for molding the sheet of foil into similar corrugations.

The open-work, wire basket is of relatively simple construction, with a generally rectangular rim 26, having medially bent, U-form handles 28 at its two opposite ends, and a series of spaced, parallel grill rods 30, spanning the basket between the ends bearing the handles 28, and

3,106,235 Patented Oct. 8, 1963 transversely bent, end legs 32, the outer ends of which are secured to the rim, and which serve to give depth to the basket.

- As will be seen later, as the description proceeds, the foil, when deposited on the basket, is draped over the parallel rods 30, and depends in troughs between the rods. In order to preserve the form of these troughs, in the case where heavy loads of meat may cause sag in the rods, the basket is provided with an extra supporting rod 34 at each side, which have transverse legs 36, longer than the intermediate legs 32, which, as seen in FIGURE 4, locate the endrods 34 below the crests of the corrugations in the board, when the troughs thereof are supported on the rods 30. In the assembled basket and foil, this means that the troughs of the foil are spaced above the plane of the side rods 34, as will be apparent if the assembled broiler in FIGURE 8 is lifted off the molding block, and inverted.

The assembly of the broiler is illustrated in FIGURES 5-10. In FIGURE 5, a suitable length of the sheet foil 38 is shown as having been pressed in place in the troughs of board 10 by the rods 30 of the basket, the latter, at this stage, being in an upright position, for readier access to the handles, and for working room. The positions of the sheet before deposit, and the basket before the pressing operation, are shown in broken lines.

After initial molding, the basket is lifted oif, inverted, and again deposited in the troughs of the sheet foil, as shown by the broken and solid lines in FIGURE 6. Next, the loose, and extending edges of the sheet are wrapped around rim 26 in folds 40, as shown in FIG- URES 8 and 9, whereupon the assembled cage and foil may be lifted from the molding block, and when inverted, is ready for use, as shown in FIGURE 10. In the form and function, it is similar to a permanent type of broiler pan, since it has the juice-receiving troughs, and is imperforate in its working zone. After each use, the foil is simply folded up and discarded, thus obviating one of the most objectionable cleaning chores known to the housewife. In addition, the general problems of storage are alleviated, since the basket is merged into the breadboard and, therefore, requires no extra space. The problem of cleaning broiler pans is not entirely one of physical effort expended, but also cooking efliciency, since a certain amount of accumulation in the pan is irremovable by any means short of violent abrasion, and this, in time, results in a surface which causes meats to stick and burn. With the present invention the housewife has a clean, new surface for each operation.

The block or board 10 is preferably formed from Wood, as in the case of the usual breadboard, but other materials may be used, having properties consistent with a toughness to withstand undue damage from knife edges, and a softness which will not tend to dull the knife edges. The basket will preferably be formed of aluminum, according to the modern trend in cooking utensils, but the practice of the invention does not require any particular material.

While a certain preferred embodiment has been shown and described, various modifications will be apparent, in the light of this disclosure, and the invention should not, therefore, 'be deemed as limited, except insofar as shall appear from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination cutting board and :broiling pan molder comprising a multi-sided block having a substantially plane face and an opposite face corrugated in striations, and an open-work basket of wire construction and having a rim conformably shaped to encompass said block and having a plurality of spaced parallel co-planar grill rods disposed below and spanning said rim between opposed ends thereof, the ends of said grill rods being each provided with a leg attached to the adjacent end of said rim, the spacing of said grill rods being substantially the same as that of the striations on said corrugated face of said block, said block, when to serve as a cutting board, being adapted to be disposed within said basket so that its plane face is above and adjacent the rim of said basket and the striations of its corrugated face engage and embrace the grill rods of said basket, and said block, when to serve as a broiling pan molder, being adapted to be disposed upon a supporting surface so that its plane face rests upon said supporting surface and its corrugated face is above said supporting surface with said basket superimposed upon said block so that the rim is spaced above said block with the grill rods of said basket in registry with the striations of the corrugated face of said block and engaging and compressing the adjacent portions of a sheet foil which may be stretched over the corrugated face of said block into the striations of the corrugated face of said block, followed by lifting of said basket from said block, superimposing said basket upon said block so that the rim encompasses said block and the grill rods of said basket are received within the parts of the foil sheet supported within the striations of the corrugated face of said block, attaching the edge portions of the sheet foil about the rim of said basket, lifting the basket carrying the sheet foil supported on the grill rods from said block, and positioning the basket carrying the sheet foil so that the grill rods rest upon a supporting surface and the rim is spaced above said supporting surface.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said basket includes in addition an inverted U-shaped handle at each of the opposed ends of the rim thereof.

3. The combination according to claim 2 wherein said basket includes in addition a supporting rod extending along each of the sides of the rim thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,849,949 Trachtman Sept. 2, 1958 

1. A COMBINATION CUTTING BOARD AND BROILING PAN MOLDER COMPRISING A MULTI-SIDED BLOCK HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLANE FACE AND AN OPPOSITE FACE CORRUGATED IN STRIATIONS, AND AN OPEN-WORK BASKET OF WIRE CONSTRUCTION AND HAVING A RIM CONFORMABLY SHAPED TO ENCOMPASS SAID BLOCK AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED PARALLEL CO-PLANAR GRILL RODS DISPOSED BELOW AND SPANNING SAID RIM BETWEEN OPPOSED ENDS THEREOF, THE ENDS OF SAID GRILL RODS BEING EACH PROVIDED WITH A LEG ATTACHED TO THE ADJACENT END OF SAID RIM, THE SPACING OF SAID GRILL RODS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME AS THAT OF THE STRIATIONS ON SAID CORRUGATED FACE OF SAID BLOCK, SAID BLOCK, WHEN TO SERVE AS A CUTTING BOARD, BEING ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED WITHIN SAID BASKET SO THAT ITS PLANE FACE IS ABOVE AND ADJACENT THE RIM OF SAID BASKET AND THE STRIATIONS OF ITS CORRUGATED FACE ENGAGE AND EMBRACE THE GRILL RODS OF SAID BASKET, AND SAID BLOCK, WHEN TO SERVE AS A BROILING PAN MOLDER, BEING ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED UPON A SUPPORTING SURFACE SO THAT ITS PLANE FACE RESTS UPON SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE AND ITS CORRUGATED FACE IS ABOVE SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE WITH SAID BASKET SUPERIMPOSED UPON SAID BLOCK SO THAT THE RIM IS SPACED ABOVE SAID BLOCK WITH THE GRILL RODS OF SAID BASKET IN REGISTRY WITH THE STRIATIONS OF THE CORRUGATED FACE OF SAID BLOCK AND ENGAGING AND COMPRESSING THE ADJACENT PORTIONS OF A SHEET FOIL WHICH MAY BE STRETCHED OVER THE CORRUGATED FACE OF SAID BLOCK INTO THE STRIATIONS OF THE CORRUGATED FACE OF SAID BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY LIFTING OF SAID BASKET FROM SAID BLOCK, SUPERIMPOSING SAID BASKET UPON SAID BLOCK SO THAT THE RIM ENCOMPASSES SAID BLOCK AND THE GRILL RODS OF SAID BASKET ARE RECEIVED WITHIN THE PARTS OF THE FOIL SHEET SUPPORTED WITHIN THE STRIATIONS OF THE CORRUGATED FACE OF SAID BLOCK, ATTACHING THE EDGE PORTIONS OF THE SHEET FOIL ABOUT THE RIM OF SAID BASKET, LIFTING THE BASKET CARRYING THE SHEET FOIL SUPPORTED ON THE GRILL RODS FROM SAID BLOCK, AND POSITIONING THE BASKET CARRYING THE SHEET FOIL SO THAT THE GRILL RODS REST UPON A SUPPORTING SURFACE AND THE RIM IS SPACED ABOVE SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE. 